Remotely configuring content

ABSTRACT

A system is presented that comprises a third-party ad provider that serves advertisements to different websites being viewed at a plurality of display devices. The advertisements may be from different advertisers, and may include advertisements from a content service provider. The advertisements from the service provider may include a promotion for a video program presented by the service provider and may provide a selectable option for a viewer of the website to have that viewer&#39;s DVR service automatically programmed to record the promoted video program. The selectable option may be selected with a single action by the viewer, and all communications, associations between the display device and the DVR service, and programming of the DVR service may occur automatically without intervention by the viewer.

BACKGROUND

Content providers enable users to remotely schedule and control theirconsumption of entertainment, such as via control of devices such as settop boxes and digital video recorders, via a network using a web browseror other software application. As content and services have evolved, theremote scheduling and control mechanisms continue to operate under a“discovery” model, in which a viewer must “discover” content throughsearching program guide grids, search-by keyword, navigation ofthumbnails, etc.

These solutions do not offer sufficient opportunity for contentproducers, aggregators, owners, or providers to drive awareness and/ortraffic through advertising. Advertising falls short in that it does notaid the user in consuming the content, and in other areas.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the disclosure.

In various embodiments, methods and systems enable web-based advertisingto control a gateway, set top box or other consumer electronic device.Specifically, a user connected to a network such as the internet, via acomputer or other device, may view a content page, such as a webpage orother content, which includes a web advertisement. That user may alsocoincidentally be a user of a service provider (e.g., subscriber to acable company). Through information stored on the user's display deviceon which the user views the content page, or associated device, theprovider of the web advertisement may be made aware of the user'sservice provider account and the settings and features associated withthe account. Using the discovered information, the provider may tailoran advertisement on the content page and provide interactivefunctionality to control the user's account settings and functions.

For example, in one embodiment, an advertiser may be a third-party adprovider who presents advertisements via an ad server on variouswebsites which are hosted by different publishers and which providecontent via each publisher's server. The publisher may contract or havean agreement with the third-party ad provider, and may redirect theuser's computer to retrieve or receive the advertisements from thethird-party ad provider's server, rather than from the publisher'sserver. The third-party ad provider in turn may host and serve a numberof different advertisements and advertisers. The advertisement presentedfor the advertiser by the third-party ad provider may include promotionsfor services provided by the advertiser.

The advertiser, for example, may be a service provider, such as anetwork operator (e.g., Comcast), or a video content provider, such as abroadcast channel company (e.g., NBC, HBO, etc.). The advertisement maypromote a new television series. In addition to simply providing apromotion of the series, if the viewer of the advertisement is a user ofthe particular provider, the advertisement may also include interactivefeatures that are tied to the services provided.

In one aspect, the viewer of a content page (e.g., webpage)advertisement may be a user or customer of a video service provider,which provides a DVR service to the user. The service may include thecapability for the video service provider to remotely program orschedule recordings on the user's DVR, or record the program at thevideo service provider and store the recording in a recording libraryassigned to the user. In such a case, if the third-party ad provider candiscern that the viewer of the content page advertisement is also acustomer/user of the video service provider (i.e., the advertiser), aninteractive feature may be added to the content page advertisement. Whenselected by a viewer of the content page, the interactive feature cancause the advertised series to be automatically recorded (e.g., withoutfurther input or action by the viewer). Alternatively, when selected bya viewer of the content page, the interactive feature can cause theviewer's DVR to be programmed automatically to record the advertisedseries. In various embodiments, the third-party ad provider determinesthat the viewer of the advertisement is a user of the advertiser'sservice via information gleaned from the computer on which the contentpage is displayed. These and other embodiments are discussed below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 includes a browser display according at least one illustrativeembodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a communication flow chart according to someillustrative embodiments.

FIGS. 3-6 illustrate detailed flowcharts of the verification in FIG. 2according to various illustrative embodiments.

FIGS. 7-8 illustrate detailed flowcharts of a communication in FIG. 2according to various illustrative embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a browser display according to at least oneillustrative embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a computing platform accordingto at least some illustrative embodiments.

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative network diagram according to someillustrative embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a display page 100 navigated to by a browseraccording to various embodiments. Web browser 100 may be any commercialor custom software application running on a personal computer or otherdevice capable of accessing content on any public or private network(e.g., the internet). The content may be encoded in HTML, JavaScript,Flash-based, or other format suitable for display and interaction. Forexample, a user may input a web address into the address bar of browser100 (e.g., www.pub.zzz/FrontPage), and in response, the browser 100 maydisplay a content page (e.g., webpage) retrieved from that address. Inthis example the content page is a news website, titled “myCity Times,”which has been retrieved from a publisher's web server. The content pagemay include a content frame 101, which includes titles and othercontent, which the publisher wishes to present, and an advertising frame102. For example, the content frame 101 includes the headlines “worldheadlines,” “politics,” “entertainment,” food,” “national headlines,”“sports,” “science,” and “economy.” Each headline may be a static textdisplay or may be a hyperlink to other web pages. The content page 101may also include articles, article titles that may be hyperlinks toarticles, images such as the image titled “Headline 1,” and videos suchas the video titled “Headline 2.” While a news website is illustrated inbrowser 100, the content page including content frame 101 may includeany content, which the publisher wishes to provide.

Advertising frame 102 may include an advertisementprovided-by/retrieved-from the publisher's server or from a third-partyadvertising server and the advertisement may be interactive and/ortargeted to a specific user or group of users. In the example of FIG. 1,the advertisement frame 102 displays an advertisement for a new videoprogram on the YXZ network. The new video program is called “Gardening,”which the advertisement describes as a new reality series broadcast onTuesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The advertisement may betargeted to a user or group of users for example based on demographicdata, geographic data of the user, browsing habits of the user, or otherinformation which is discernible from the interaction of the user withthe current content page or with other content pages on which thethird-party advertiser presents advertisements.

In various embodiments, the third-party advertising server may presentthe advertisement for a video content provider, such as a televisionnetwork (e.g., HBO, ESPN, etc.) or for a video service provider such asa cable, broadcast, satellite, internet or other broadcast company,which provides video programming (e.g., Comcast, Cox, etc.). Althoughthe advertisement may be targeted to a specific user or group of usersbased on, for example demographic data, the third-party advertiser maynot be aware that the user visiting the page is also a customer of thecompany or group placing the advertisement. For example, the user/viewerof the content page may be a customer of service provider, SP, and theadvertiser may be the YXZ network, which is carried as a regularservice, or offered for an additional fee, to customers by serviceprovider, SP.

As a customer of service provider SP, or another content provider, theuser may be provided relevant features/services such as digital videorecording (DVR), remote DVR, video on demand, and other such servicesprovided by video service providers. Through retrieval and display ofthe advertisement in advertising frame 102, and the user's interactionwith the advertisement, the advertiser or third-party advertisementprovider may be made aware of the user's video service provider accountand the settings and features provided by the account. Using thediscovered video service account information, the advertisement providermay tailor the advertisement and provide interactive functionality tocontrol the user's video service account settings. For example, theadvertisement provider may include a “record now” icon/text/button 103,which is an interactive control that when selected by the viewer,automatically configures (i.e., without further action by the viewerand/or other person) the user's digital video recording service providedby service provider SP to record the advertised series “Gardening”available on the YXZ network. The selectable icon/text/button in the webadvertisement may receive just a single selection or action from theuser at the computing device displaying the webpage, to cause theautomatic configuration of other equipment such as a digital videorecorder (DVR), which is associated with the video service. Automaticprogramming of a DVR is just one example, and other embodiments mayinclude the automatic configuring of a user's other video servicefeatures through interaction with an advertisement displayed in awebpage. Functions and actions (e.g., programming, configuring,changing, etc.), which are autonomous or automatic, are performed by acomputer or other equipment (e.g., equipment 1000) wholly or partiallywithout direction, input, intervention, or control by the viewer, user,or other human being.

While the content page in FIG. 1 is shown with one content frame and oneadvertisement frame, in other embodiments, the content page may containany number of content frames and advertisement frames.

In certain variations, one or more servers over one or more networks mayautomatically perform all communications, and processing to associatethe user's interactions with the advertisement at the computing deviceand the user's video service, and configuration of the video serviceequipment without intervention by the user. This is so even though theremay be no direct link between the computing device, which displays thewebpage, and the equipment associated with the video service, or otherprovided service. That is to say, the user's computing device need notbe connected to the same network on which the video service is providedto the user.

FIG. 2 illustrates a communication flow in which certain variations maybe performed. FIG. 2 begins at user equipment 201 displayinginformation, such as a content page as shown in FIG. 1. Prior to viewingor accessing the web page, the user may have previously used the browseron user equipment 201 to login to the provider's website where the usermay, for example, have the ability to remotely control the user'sdigital video recorder (DVR) services. For example, the previouslydiscussed provider SP may provide the user the capability to see andconfigure the recording schedule of its DVR through the provider'swebsite. To do so, the user may have to log into a personal account onthe provider's website by providing in a communication 207, a passwordand username, or providing some other authentication data. As oneexample, the user may enter a user ID of “user2141” and a password intoappropriate fields of a login page of the provider's website, to verifythat the user is authorized to remotely control the service. After theuser enters the data, user equipment 201 transmits the login data orother authentication data to the video service provider's web server202. In response, video service provider web server 202 may authenticatethe user based on the received authentication data and send back to userequipment 201 authentication data in a communication 208, such as acookie or other data (e.g., “key 1391”). The new authentication data maythen be stored at user equipment 201, and automatically provided inevery subsequent visit to the video service provider web server 202 toindicate that user equipment 201 has previously been authenticated withthe video service provider. The authentication data may be persistent,such that the authentication never expires on the user equipment or mayexpire after a set period of time.

After user equipment 201 has been authenticated, a user may use the webbrowser (or any network browser) to visit another website. For example,the user may visit a publisher's website by sending a request 209 for awebpage to URL “www.pub.zzz,” which is hosted by the publisher's webserver 203. In response to the request 209, the publisher's web server203 may serve, in one or more response communications 210, webpagesincluding content such as the one displayed in FIG. 1 or including anyother content. The publisher's webpages may also include one or moreadvertisement frames such as the advertisement frame 102 of FIG. 1. Thewebpage content may be accompanied by instructions for the browser toretrieve advertisements to be populated in the one or more advertisementframes.

The instructions, for example, may direct the browser and/or userequipment 201 to request an advertisement from the publisher's ad server204 (e.g. pubad.zzz/ad34). The request 211 may specify a particularadvertisement, a type of advertisement (e.g., related to sports,technology, etc.), or may simply be a generic request for anadvertisement. In response to the request 211, the publisher's ad server204 may select a particular advertiser, or advertisement category, froman inventory of advertisers or categories to place in the one or more atframes of the requested webpage. In certain variations, the publishermay do so based on the publisher's ad server measuring the performanceof different advertisements on the publisher's website from differentadvertisers.

The publisher, via the publisher's ad server 204, for example, mayprovide a webpage/information including sports news, and based on thewebpage content, may automatically select an advertiser, from a pool ofadvertisers that provide sports related merchandise or services. Basedon this selection, the publisher's ad server (or another computingdevice) 204 sends instructions in a communication 212 to the browser onuser equipment 201 to retrieve an advertisement from a third-party adserver 205, with the address of the third party ad server and theadvertisement identified by a tag or other metadata included in thecommunication 212. In response to receiving the instructions, thebrowser on user equipment 201 sends a request in a communication 213 tothe third-party ad server's URL (e.g., ads.zzz), including the tag orother metadata identifying the requested advertisement (e.g., tag 1).The tags or other metadata provided by the publisher ad server 204 maybe interpreted by the third-party ad server 205 to identify a particularadvertisement within the ad server's advertisement inventory.

The tags, for example, may be originally generated by the third-party adserver to reflect its inventory of advertisements acquired fromdifferent advertisers 219 (not shown in FIG. 2). The third-party adserver then may provide the tags to the publisher's ad server, and thepublisher's ad server may store inventories of advertisement tags fromdifferent third-party ad servers. By storing and providing only tags orother metadata to the browser on user equipment 201, the third-party adprovider may change and update the advertisements associated with thetags in the third party ad server 205, without the publisher having tomodify its inventory.

Once the third-party ad server 205 receives a request for theadvertisement with the tag information included, third-party ad server205 selects an advertisement associated with the tag from its inventoryand sends it in a communication 214 to the user equipment 201 to bedisplayed in the advertisement frame of the webpage.

In a variation to this example, communications 211, 212, 213, and 214may be combined or modified so that the browser on user equipment 201requests the advertisement directly from the third-party ad server 205,or so that the publisher ad server 204 provides the advertisementdirectly to the user's browser and/or user's equipment 201.

The advertisement sent may, for example, be a promotion, such as the oneshown in advertisement frame 102 in FIG. 1, for the provider SP, or fora video content provider (e.g., YXZ network). In such an example, theadvertisement may be interactive such that the viewers of theadvertisement at user equipment 201, who are also customers of theprovider SP, are enabled to control their video services provided by theprovider SP through interaction with the advertisement.

For such advertisements, the third-party ad server 205 may send arequest 214 to the browser on user equipment 201 to determine if theuser equipment has ever previously been, and/or is currently,authenticated with the service provider, or if a user of user equipment201 is otherwise a user or customer of the service provider. In responseto request 214, the browser on user equipment 201 may perform averification 215 with the third-party ad server 205 to confirm the userequipment's prior the authentication. Once confirmed, third-party adserver 205 may modify the advertisement, or send a new advertisement,which includes interactive options specific to that user's services incommunication 216. One such option may for example be an interactiveselection option that the user may choose, which automatically sets theuser's DVR 206 to record the show, series, related subject matter, orother audiovisual content related to the advertisement.

If the user selects the presented option in the advertisement, thebrowser or another application on user equipment 201 may send acommunication 217, which may result in the remote control/programming ofthe user's DVR 206, via one or more commands 218 sent to DVR 206. DVR206 may be an electronic appliance located within the home of the user,or maybe a DVR service remotely located at the video service providersfacility (e.g., network DVR) or other remote facility. It will beappreciated that rather than a DVR being located at the user premises,the video content server can provide the recording functionality andprovide the user access to the content via a user's program library.

FIG. 3 illustrates one example of verification 215 (e.g., 215A)performed in FIG. 2. In the example of FIG. 3, the third-party adprovider and the service provider may have a prearranged agreement,process, or system, by which the service provider providesauthentication data to the third-party ad provider. Prior to theverification 215A, the provider's authentication request 214 sent by thethird-party ad server 205 may include a link to the provider's webserver 202 (e.g., www.vsp.zzz), and include a path that is specific toor associated with the third-party ad server (e.g.,/authentication_ads). For example, the link in communication 214 couldinclude the complete URL, www.vsp.zzz/authentication_ads. Afterreceiving authentication request 214, the browser on user equipment 201may start the verification 215A by sending a communication 301, whichposts the user ID and previously acquired verification data associatedwith the user's service provider account to the provided serviceprovider link. Note that in this example, the user equipment sendsinformation to the video service provider (and not the third-party adserver), so that the video service provider authentication data remainssecure and does not get provided to outside parties (e.g., thethird-party ad provider).

The service provider link (e.g., www.vsp.zzz/authentication_ads)provided in communication 301 may be mapped to the service provider'sweb server 202 or other computing device associated with the serviceprovider. The video service provider receiving this information at thepath associated with the particular third-party ad server 205 (i.e.,authentication_ads) may interpret the posting of this data to indicatethat the user equipment 201 has received a customizable advertisementfrom the identified third-party ad provider, and that the user equipment201 is associated with the service provider user identified by IDuser2141 (e.g., the user equipment may be owned or used by the accountholder with the user ID). The service provider may have agreements witha number of different third-party ad providers and may have a differentpath mapped for each one (e.g., authentication_ads1,authentication_ads2, etc.). Alternatively, the service provider may haveone or more general paths to which communication 301 is sent, and thethird party ad server may be identified by other data withincommunication 301.

Based on the arrangement, process, or system between service provider SPand the third-party ad provider, service provider web server 202completes verification 215A, by automatically sending in a communication302 to the third-party ad server 205 options to be displayed in theadvertisement, which are particularly associated with the user's serviceprovider account (e.g., user2141). For example, the options may indicatethat the user of the browser on user equipment 201 is a subscriber tothe service provider and receives (or does not receive) various optionalservices provided by the service provider. For example, communication302 may indicate that user2141 has two remotely programmable digitalvideo recorders, subscribes to a particular channel from a video contentprovider (e.g., YXZ Network), but does not subscribe to a channel fromanother video content provider (e.g., HBO network). From these options,third-party ad server 205 may determine how to customize theadvertisement to target this particular user of the service provider orto provide value added services associated with service provider and/orthe YXZ network.

For example if the user is a customer or user of the service providerand subscribes to the YXZ network, the advertisement may be modified orreplaced to provide the user with a selectable option (i.e., a button)to record the video programming (e.g., “Gardening”) promoted in theadvertisement of FIG. 1. In another example, if the user is a customerof the provider, but does not subscribe to the YXZ network, theadvertisement may be modified to offer the user an option toautomatically join or subscribe to the YXZ network through the serviceprovider SP. In a different example, the user may be a customer of theservice provider SP and a subscriber to the YXZ network, and may havealready scheduled the recording of the advertised program or series onthe user's DVR. Based on the user's interests in the advertised programindicated by the already scheduled recording, the third-party ad server205 may automatically modify the advertisement to offer other programswith related content, or otherwise target the advertisement to theuser's preferences based on the already scheduled recording. In yetanother example, if the user is not a subscriber to service provider theadvertisement may provide an option to subscribe to service provide orprovide a link to the service provider's server, at which the user maysubscribe to service provider. The above embodiments are only examples,and various other embodiments may include any combination ormodifications to these examples.

The third-party ad provider may have a relationship, agreement, processor system in place with more than one video service providers from whichthe video content provider (e.g., YXZ network) is accessible. In such acase, the service provider authentication request 214 may include linksto a number of different video service providers, and the user equipment201 may send one or more different communications 301 to the links ofthe different video service providers. The video service providers whichreceive a communication 301 in which the user does not have an accountmay simply ignore the communication. The video service provider(s) withwhich the user does have an account, however, may recognize that thecommunication comes from a current customer, and as a result, may sendthe communication 302 to the third-party ad server indicating that theuser has an account with that video service provider.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example embodiment of the service providerauthentication 215 (e.g., 215B) illustrated in FIG. 2. In FIG. 4, theservice provider authentication request 214 is the same as thatillustrated in FIG. 3, which may include a link to the video serviceprovider web server 202. Recall from FIG. 2 that the browser on userequipment 201 may have been previously authenticated, and may havereceived a cookie from the video service provider web server 202 incommunications 207 and 208. In the example of FIG. 4, in response toreceiving the request 214, the browser on user equipment 201 beginsverification 215 by sending a communication 401 to the video serviceprovider web server (e.g., get/authentication_ads HTTP/1.1 Host:vsp.zzz). Since the link provided in communication 214 is to the sameURL that may have provided the original cookie, communication 401 mayalso automatically include the cookie (e.g., Cookie:name=user2141:key1391) in the response. The video service provider webserver 202 can then use the responded cookie as the authentication dataand proceed to send communication 402 to the third-party ad server 205in the same manner discussed above with respect to FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates yet another embodiment of the service providerauthentication 215 (e.g., 215C) illustrated in FIG. 2. The request forservice provider authentication 214 sent by the third-party ad server,again, is the same as those in FIGS. 3 and 4. However, in the example ofFIG. 5, the verification of service provider authentication 215C, beginsby the browser on user equipment 201 sending authentication datadirectly to the third-party ad server 205 instead of to the videoservice provider web server (e.g., post ads.zzz/authenticationprovider=vsp& name=user2141 &key1391). The third-party ad server 205 maythen query an authentication server 504 in a communication 502.Authentication server 504 may be the video service provider web server(e.g., vsp.zzz), may be a separate authentication server hosted by thevideo service provider (e.g., vspauth.zzz), or may be anotherauthentication server such as a multiple service provider (MSP)authenticator. The MSP authenticator may be contracted by, may be ajoint venture between, or may be some other entity having an affiliationwith, multiple different video service providers as a central locationfor ad servers to verify the authentication of user equipment withdifferent video service providers.

If authentication server 504 is hosted by the video service provider,then the authentication server 504 may send communication 503 in thesame manner communication 302 is sent in the examples of FIGS. 3 and 4.If the authentication server 504 is not operated/controlled/hosted bythe video service provider (e.g., a MSP authenticator), theauthentication server 504 may: 1) determine which, if any, video serviceprovider of multiple video service providers the user is a user of, oraccount holder with, based on the provided authentication data, and 2)if a customer, determines which video service options to provide to thethird-party ad server 205. In one embodiment, the authentication servermay have pre-acquired user data from one or more video service providersand stored such data in a database or other memory. In such anembodiment, the authentication server may determine whether the userequipment 201 is a user of a video service provider by comparing theauthentication data to the stored pre-acquired user data in thedatabase. The database may store data that indicates whether a user is acustomer of a particular video service provider and may store the user'svideo service options by that video service provider. Alternatively,once the authentication server determines a particular user is acustomer of a particular video service provider, the authenticationserver may then query that particular video service provider todetermine that customer's video service options.

In another embodiment, the authentication server may query a particularvideo service provider based on the authentication data provided by thethird-party ad server 205 a communication 505 (not shown), to determinewhether the user is a customer of the video service provider and toacquire the video service options.

Once the authentication server 504 determines whether the user is acustomer of a video service provider, and determines that user's videoservice options, the authentication server 504 completes theverification 215C by communicating the user's video service providerdata to the third-party ad server 205 in a communication 503.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the service providerauthentication 215 (e.g., 215D) illustrated in FIG. 2, which alsoincorporates communication 216 of FIG. 2, sending the service provideroptions directly to the browser on user equipment 201. The verification215D begins with the browser on user equipment 201 sending communication601 to the video service provider web server 202. Communication 601 maybe the same as those communications sent in the examples of FIGS. 3 and4 (e.g., communications 301 and 401). In response to communication 601,the video service provider web server 202 authenticates the userequipment as a service provider customer (or determines that the userequipment has previously been authenticated as a service providercustomer) (e.g., user2141), retrieves the customer's service providerservice options from a database or other memory, and transmits thoseoptions in a communication 602 directly back to the browser on userequipment 201. In this example, the options are not sent to thethird-party ad server 205 as in the examples of FIGS. 3 and 4. Thebrowser on user equipment 201 may then modify the advertisement toincorporate those options.

In any of the above embodiments described with respect to FIGS. 3-6, thethird-party ad server 205 and/or video service provider web server 202may authenticate the user equipment 201 in a manner other than through acookie or login information previously entered by the user. For example,the video service provider web server 202 (or other device) may detectthe IP address of the user equipment 205 and compare the IP address to alist of IP addresses stored in a database to determine that the userequipment 201 IP address is within a range assigned to a particularvideo service provider who is also an internet service provider (ISP).From this comparison, the third-party ad server 205 or video serviceprovider web server 202, and/or other equipment may automaticallydetermine that the user of the internet service through user equipment201 also subscribes to the video service. In another embodiment, the MACaddress of user equipment 201 may be compared to a list of MAC addressesin a database, which has been determined to belong to a customer of thevideo service provider. The comparison of the IP address or MAC address,or other identifying information of the user equipment, may be performedby the video service provider web server 202, the third party server205, or other intermediate device/server involved with thecommunications between the user equipment 201 and the network.

As a result of the various embodiments described above with respect toFIGS. 3-6, the browser on user equipment 201 may display theadvertisement with interactive video service options specific to theuser's account with the video service provider. Recall that one suchoption may for example be an interactive selection option that the usermay choose, which automatically sets the user's DVR to record the show,series, subject matter, or other audiovisual content related to theadvertisement. In response to a selection of the presented option in theadvertisement, the browser on user equipment 201 sends a communication217, which results in the remote control/programming of the user's DVR206, via one or more commands 218 sent to DVR 206.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of communication 217 (e.g., 217A) forconfiguring the user's video service options according to the user'sselection of an interactive feature provided in advertisement 102.Communication 217 begins with the browser on user equipment 201 sendinga communication 701 to the third-party ad server 205, which includesinstructions for configuring the user's video service according to theselected option in the advertisement. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 1, advertisement 102 includes an interactive “record now” radiobutton which may be selected by the viewer. In response to the userclicking/selecting this radio button, the browser on user equipment 201may send instructions to the third-party ad server 205 indicating thatthe user's DVR, identified through the user's video service provideraccount (i.e., user2141), should be programmed to record the advertisedvideo series (e.g., “gardening” broadcast on a YXZ network).Alternatively, the instructions may indicate that a single episode, suchas a pilot episode, be recorded.

In response to receiving these instructions in communication 701, thethird-party ad server 205 forwards these instructions in communication702 to the video service provider web server 202, or other designatedserver hosted by the video service provider. In one variation, theforwarded instructions in communication 702 may be exactly as receivedin communication 701. In a different variation, the forwardedinstructions may be modified by the third-party ad server 205 to conformto a format decodable or executable by the server hosted by the videoservice provider to perform the desired function. For example, thecommunication 701 may provide only a single indication (e.g., “yes”) torecord the advertised series, and the third-party ad server 205 mayinclude in communication 702, all additional information to identify theexact series (e.g., time, channel, series name, user account, etc.) tothe video service provider 202. In another variation, communication 701may be sent from the browser of user equipment 201 to the video serviceprovider server 202, skipping third-party ad server 205 andcommunication 702 entirely.

In response to receiving the forwarded instructions, the video serviceprovider 202 sends DVR control commands 218 to DVR 206 to remotelyprogram the user's DVR 206. The DVR control commands may be sent, forexample, through the video service provider's network (e.g., hybridfiber-coax network), through a separate network connection (e.g., DSLnetwork), through a private branch exchange (PBX) modem connection,through a wireless network, or by any other communication path asfurther described below with respect to FIG. 11

FIG. 8 illustrates another embodiment of communication 217 (e.g., 217B)for configuring the user's video service. Communication 217B begins inthe same manner as communication 217A, with the browser on userequipment 201 sending communication 801 to the third-party ad server205. Communication 801 includes instructions for configuring the user'svideo service based on the selected options in the advertisement. Inresponse to receiving the instructions, the third-party ad server 205replies to user equipment 201, with a communication 802, which includesa link to the video service provider's programming page for configuringthe user's video service. The provided link and communication 802 may beaccompanied by appropriate form data for entering into the video serviceprovider's programming page for performing the video service (e.g.,programming the user's DVR to record the advertised video series).

In response to receiving communication 802, the browser on userequipment 201 proceeds to send a request 803 for the webpage at the linkprovided in communication 802, and includes the additionally providedform data with the request. If the link is addressed to the same videoservice provider URL at which the user equipment 201 was authenticatedin communication 208 of FIG. 2, request 803 for the webpage may alsoinclude the video service provider's cookie originally provided to thebrowser on user equipment 201. Alternatively or additionally, therequest 803 may include any of the other previously discussedauthentication data. In response to the request, the video serviceprovider web server 202 responds by sending the requested webpage in acommunication 804 to the browser on user equipment 201.

The requested webpage for the video service provider may be, forexample, as shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 illustrates a webpage 901 titled“VSP myAccount”, which the video service provider may provide to itscustomers for controlling the customer's account services. If therequest 803 included the video service provider cookie or otherauthentication data, the user may automatically be logged in to theuser's account (e.g., user2141). Alternatively, the user may be promptedto log into the account.

Once logged in, features and services provided by the video serviceprovider to the user may be displayed. For example, the page 901 mayinclude a frame 902 for remotely programming the customer's DVRs. Thewebpage may also include for example a programming schedule 904, whichmay be interactive and selectable for populating the form data in theDVR programming frame 902. The user for example may be able to browseprograms within the schedule 904 and select a program (e.g.,“gardening”), which causes the form data in 902 to be populated tospecify the selected program. If form data that reflects the advertisedvideo program is provided in communication 803 to the video serviceprovider web server 202, the video service provider web server 202 mayserve the webpage 901 with the DVR form data completely or partiallypre-populated to specify the video program that was advertised inadvertisement 102.

Once the form data is populated, the user may select a submit button 903to trigger the execution of remote programming of the DVR. In responseto this selection, the browser on user equipment 201 sends a selectionin a communication 805 to the video service provider web server 202.Video service provider web server 202 then responds by sendingcommunication 218 to remotely program the DVR in the same manner asdescribed in FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of equipment 1000 in which the variousdisclosed servers, user equipment, DVRs, and other described embodimentsmay be implemented. A main processor 1001 is configured to executeinstructions, and to control operation of other components of equipment1000. Processor 1001 may be implemented with any of numerous types ofdevices, including but not limited to, one or more general-purposemicroprocessors, one or more application specific integrated circuits,one or more field programmable gate arrays, and combinations thereof. Inat least some embodiments, processor 1001 carries out operationsdescribed herein according to machine readable instructions (e.g.,software, firmware, etc.) stored in memory 1002 and 1003 and/or storedas hardwired logic gates within processor 1001. Processor 1001 maycommunicate with and control memory 1002 and 1003 and other componentswithin 1000 over one or more buses.

Main processor 1001 may communicate with networks or other devicesacross one or more RF interfaces 1004 that may include a coaxial cableconnector 1005, a diplex filter 1006, a wideband tuner 1007 and anupstream communication amplifier 1008. Main processor 1001 may alsocommunicate with networks or other devices through additional wired andwireless interfaces, and various combinations thereof, which includeadditional hardware and/or firmware. Such interfaces may include one ormore USB interfaces 1010, DECT 6.0 interfaces 1011, MOCA (MultimediaOver Coax) interfaces 1012, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi interfaces 1014, 5 GHz Wi-Fiinterfaces 1013, other wireless interfaces 1009, Ethernet interfaces1015, RJ11 interfaces 1020, etc. A power supply 1016 and/or batterybackup 1017 may provide electrical power. User input to equipment 1000may be provided over one of the aforementioned interfaces or via aseparate collection of buttons, infrared ports, or other controls in aconsole 1021. Equipment 1000 may include one or more output devices,such as a display 1023 (or an external television), and may include oneor more output device controllers 1022, such as a video processor.

Memory 1002 and 1003 may include volatile and non-volatile memory andcan include any of various types of tangible machine-readable storagemedium, including one or more of the following types of storage devices:read only memory (ROM) modules, random access memory (RAM) modules,magnetic tape, magnetic discs (e.g., a fixed hard disk drive or aremovable floppy disk), optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM disc, a CD-RW disc,a DVD disc), flash memory, and EEPROM memory. As used herein (includingthe claims), a tangible machine-readable storage medium is a physicalstructure that can be touched by a human. A signal would not by itselfconstitute a tangible machine-readable storage medium, although otherembodiments may include signals or other ephemeral versions ofinstructions executable by one or more processors to carry out one ormore of the operations described herein.

In at least some embodiments, each of the servers, user equipment, andother equipment, which perform the various described processes, can beimplemented as a single computing platform or multiple computingplatforms, such as multiple equipment 1000, for redundancy and/or toincrease the amount of analysis, data storage and other operations beingperformed simultaneously, or for convenience. Additionally, in variousembodiments, multiple computing platforms may be configured tocommunicate over one or more networks to perform the various describedprocesses of any single or multiple servers, user equipment or otherequipment described above (e.g., cloud computing).

In the various embodiments described above, the communications betweenthe servers and other described equipment may be accomplished through agroup of networks, which are represented by a cloud 1100 illustrated inFIG. 11. Network 1100 interconnects user equipment 201, video serviceprovider web server 202, publisher web server 203, publisher ad server204, third-party ad server 205, digital video recorder 206, advertiser219, and other equipment described herein.

Network 1100 may include a single network or combination of networks,including one or more private or public, local or wide area, networksand in-home networks, which may be wired and/or wireless. Network 1100may include, for example, coaxial, fiber, or hybrid fiber/coaxialdistribution system (e.g., a DOCSIS network), digital subscriber line(DSL) network, a satellite communication network, any wireless network,and/or a PBX network, and combinations thereof.

Network 1100 may include a wide area wireless network providing mobiletelephony and other types of mobile services to mobile user equipment,such as mobile telephones, “smart” phones, personal digital assistants(PDAs), laptops, electronic book readers, tablets, touchpad devices, andother types of wireless handheld devices. Examples of such wide areawireless networks include but are not limited to satellite and cellulartelephone networks, 2G, 3G, 4G, etc. mobile networking andtelecommunication networks, including CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, CDMA2000,TD-SCDMA, WiMAX, LTE solutions, EDGE (Enhanced Data rate for GSMEvolution) networks, EVDO (EVolution Data Optimized) networks, etc.Network 1100 may further include in-home and local networks, composed ofbut not limited to such technologies as Bluetooth networks, femtocelltechnology, Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephone (DECT) networks, WiFinetworks according to IEEE 802.11, Cordless Advanced Technology-Internetand Quality (CAT-iq) networks, etc, Ethernet networks, Multimedia OverCoax Alliance (MOCA) networks, Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)networks, etc.

While network cloud 1100 is illustrated as a central network throughwhich all devices communicate, network cloud 1100 may comprise a numberof separate networks, where only certain devices communicate with oneanother through a first network, while other devices communicate througha different network not connected to the first network. For example,publisher web server 203 and third-party ad server 205 may communicatedirectly through a satellite link with one another, while the videoservice provider web server 202 may communicate to DVR 206 through aseparate hybrid coax-fiber network, which is unassociated with thesatellite link.

The foregoing description of embodiments has been presented for purposesof illustration and description. The foregoing description is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit embodiments to the precise formdisclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.The embodiments discussed herein were chosen and described in order toexplain the principles and the nature of various embodiments and theirpractical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize thepresent invention in various embodiments and with various modificationsas are suited to the particular use contemplated. All embodiments neednot necessarily achieve all objects or advantages identified above. Allpermutations of various features described herein are within the scopeof the invention.

For example, while various embodiments refer and are applicable to avideo service (e.g., a DVR service), the disclosed embodiments may beapplied to other services. For example, the disclosed embodiments may beapplied to video-on-demand services, video game services, movie rentaland purchase services, music rental, purchase, and streaming services,on-line merchandise stores, electronic book services, and otherentertainment and merchandising services.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: providing, from aserver to a plurality of display devices, an advertisement for displayin a plurality of different content pages hosted by a plurality ofdifferent publishers; determining, at the server, that one or moredisplay devices of the plurality of display devices is associated withone or more respective user accounts of a service provider that providesa service to each of the one or more respective user accounts; andproviding from the server to the one or more display devices, inresponse to the determining, a modification to the advertisement suchthat the advertisement, when modified by the modification, comprises aninteractive control that when selected at each of the one or moredisplay devices causes instructions to be sent to control the servicefor each of the one or more respective user accounts respectively. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein: the service provider is a video serviceprovider; the service provided by the video service provider is adigital video recording service; and the interactive control displayedin the advertisement, when selected, causes an automatic configurationof the digital video recording service to schedule a recording of avideo program.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein: for each of the one ormore display devices determined to be associated with the one or morerespective user accounts, the interactive control displayed in theadvertisement, in response to being selected with only a single input bya user of that display device, causes the sending of the instructions tothe service provider.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein: the singleinput is a selection with a user-controlled pointer displayed over oneof the plurality of different content pages on that display device. 5.The method of claim 3, wherein: the interactive control displayed in theadvertisement, in response to being selected with only the single input,causes an automatic configuration of the service without further inputby a person.
 6. A system comprising one or more processors andmachine-readable media having stored thereon executable instructions,that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:provide, to a plurality of display devices located remotely from thesystem, an advertisement for display in a plurality of different contentpages hosted by a plurality of different publishers; determine that oneor more display devices of the plurality of display devices areassociated with one or more respective user accounts of a serviceprovider that provides a service to each of the one or more respectiveuser accounts; and provide to the one or more display devices, inresponse to the determining that the one or more display devices areassociated with the one or more respective user accounts, a modificationto the advertisement such that the advertisement, when modified by themodification, comprises an interactive control that when selected ateach of the one or more display devices causes instructions to be sentto control the service for each of the one or more respective useraccounts.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein: the service provider is avideo service provider; the service provided by the video serviceprovider is a digital video recording service; and the interactivecontrol displayed in the advertisement, when selected, causes anautomatic configuration of the digital video recording service toschedule a recording of a video program.
 8. The system of claim 6,wherein: for each of the one or more display devices determined to beassociated with the one or more respective user accounts, theinteractive control displayed in the advertisement, in response to beingselected with only a single input by a user of that display device,causes the sending of the instructions to the service provider.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein: the single input is a selection with auser-controlled pointer displayed over one of the plurality of differentcontent pages on that display device.
 10. The system of claim 8,wherein: the interactive control displayed in the advertisement, inresponse to being selected with only the single input, causes anautomatic configuration of the service without further input by aperson.
 11. A method comprising: providing, to one or more third-partyadvertisement servers, from a service provider server, informationassociating a user device with a user account of the service provider;providing an advertisement from the one or more third-partyadvertisement servers to the user device; and receiving at the serviceprovider server, server information indicating a selection of aninteractive control in the advertisement and including instructions toconfigure a service provided to the user account associated with theuser device.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the service provider isa video service provider, the service is a digital video recordingservice provided by the video service provider, and the serverinformation further identifies a video program; and wherein the methodfurther comprises: in response to receiving the server information,automatically configuring the digital video recording service toschedule a recording of the video program for the user accountassociated with the user device according to the instructions.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: receiving the server informationfrom the user device.
 14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:receiving the server information from the one or more third-partyadvertisement servers.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein: theautomatic configuring of the digital video recording service isperformed without input by a person.
 16. One or more non-transitorymachine-readable media having stored thereon machine-executableinstructions, that when executed by a processor in an apparatus, causethe apparatus to: display an advertisement received from a first serverin a content page received from a second server; receive a firstcommunication that is different from the advertisement and that includesinformation for modifying the advertisement to include an interactivecontrol; and send, in response to a selection of the interactivecontrol, a second communication including commands for programming aservice provided by a video service provider to a specific user account,wherein the modification is based on a previously determined associationbetween the apparatus and the specific user account.
 17. The one or morenon-transitory machine-readable media of claim 16, wherein: themachine-executable instructions, when executed, further cause theapparatus to send, to the first server, a third communication includinginformation that identifies the apparatus as being associated with thespecific user account.
 18. The one or more non-transitorymachine-readable media of claim 16, wherein: the service is a digitalvideo recording service; the advertisement identifies a video program;and the commands in the second communication direct the digital videorecording service to schedule a recording of the video program for thespecific user account.
 19. The one or more non-transitorymachine-readable media of claim 16, wherein: the machine-executableinstructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to send thesecond communication in response to receiving both the firstcommunication and the selection of the interactive control.
 20. The oneor more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 19, wherein: theselection of the interactive control is a single input by a user; andthe programming of the service provided to the specific user account isperformed in response to the commands without input from a person.